010.

At about midnight, everyone within the school had fallen asleep. Jubilee came into Hayley's room to see if she wanted to go out to the club with the rest of the older people. But Hayley remained still in her bed. She wasn't asleep like Jubilee thought. She was awake and remained motionless until Jubilee left.

When she felt that Jubilee and some of the others had left the mansion, she got out of bed and changed into a more comfortable attire. She grabbed her keys and the papers that had the directions to Centreport, New York where Warren's father and mother resided.

The hallways were dead quiet and it reminded her of the time when she, John, Bobby and Rogue would sneak out of their bedrooms to hang out on top of the roof. She shook her head, as if that would help shake the memories out of her bed. She pushed the button for the elevator and stepped inside.

Hayley knew that everyone would be so angry with her for leaving the mansion to find John but she had to do this. This was why she chose to go out at night when everyone was asleep. Everyone would make attempts to stop her but she had to at least try. Maybe John would come back if he saw her. He always opened up to her and her alone. Maybe his answer would be different.

The elevator doors opened to the garage. Hayley chose the car that they had driven to New Orleans when picking up Gambit. She had snatched the keys from Logan's jacket earlier. John had taught her how to pick-pocket. With a grin, she hopped into the car and waited patiently for the engine to warm up.

Her heart was nervous and anxious to go find him. She knew it wouldn't be easy and maybe she wouldn't find him. She knew that she shouldn't have her hopes set too high in case he was nowhere to be found.

What would she say to him? What would he say to her? Would things be the same or would they be different? She didn't know what to expect.

Don't think too far... you may not even get to see him. Don't get your hopes up.

Hayley sighed.

"Midnight drive, cherie?"

Hayley jumped at the sound of Gambit who leaned over the open window of the driver's door. She glared at him. "Jeez, Gambit! Way to scare me."

"Where you off to?"

"Somewhere."

Gambit narrowed his red eyes. "I think I know you're off to, belle."

"Yeah, well, good for you."

He leaned over through the window to unlock the door and opened it. "Get outta the car."

"No."

"C'mon, he ain't worth your time."

Hayley shut off the engine and got out of the car. Slamming the door shut, she pushed him against the wall hard. "Stop, stop acting like you know me, Gambit," she spat. "You have no fucking clue what it's like to be in love, do you? To love someone so much that your heart literally rips into pieces when you even hear their name. Do you know what it feels like to not be able to be with the one you care and love?" She ran her hand through her hair, frustrated. "I have to do this, I have to try, I have to find him!"

Gambit sighed. "Belle," he said softly. "I do know. More than you know. You have to let it go."

Hayley rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just get back inside and go to bed." She turned to walk back inside the car.

But Gambit reached forward to grab her wrist and made her turn around. "I ain't letting you go, cherie," he said firmly.

"Get the hell off of me."

"No." He pulled her closer to him, his grip on her tighter. "You can use your little flashy power all you want, cherie but I ain't letting you go out there on your own."

"Fuck you," she spat. She struggled to break free but she couldn't. He was quite strong and kept a good firm hold on her. With her free left hand, Hayley tried to throw a punch but he grabbed a hold of her arm as well. She squirmed and attempted to pull free. She kneed him in the thigh and his grip on her loosened. She pulled away and ran towards the car.

Hayley stopped in her tracks when the car suddenly exploded. The explosion threw her backwards, knocking her right down on her back. "What the hell!" she yelled.

Gambit stood next to her with a rather amused look on her face. "I told you. I ain't letting you go." In his hand was a pair of playing cards and he shoved them into his pockets.

She started to see red and stood up, furious with what he had done. In a few minutes, everyone would be down here at the garage, wondering what on Earth had made that huge noise. She held her hands towards the car, making the flames die and eventually disappear. The garage filled with black smoke, causing the two of them to cough.

Hayley walked over to the garage door button and pressed the button. The garage door slowly opened, letting out the black smoke and letting in the fresh air. She stormed outside, not wanting to even look at Gambit.

"Joli, don't get angry with Remy," Gambit said. Hayley could hear the little tone of amusement in his voice as he stepped next to her.

The next thing she knew, she had swung her fist at Gambit and he fell to the ground.

"What the hell happened here?"

Storm and Logan had made their way down to the garage and both looked incredibly furious. Storm was angry because of the loud interruption and the mess in the garage and Logan was angry that his precious car was destroyed into pieces.

"What the fuck is going on right now?"

Hayley rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to speak when Gambit chuckled, getting up from the ground. "I can explain, boss," he said, brushing the dirt off his clothes. "Now ya see, Remy wanted to go on a ride round town, get some fresh air and Beautiful here, caught me tryna get into the car. One thing led to another and well.."

Hayley was shocked that he had just lied to Logan and Storm. Especially after her punching him in the face.

"Is this true, Hayley?" Storm asked sternly.

"It's no-,"

"It is, Stormy," Gambit said with a grin. His red eyes began to glow. "And Stormy, I'm very sorry about the mess. Remy will clean it up first thing in the morning."

Despite feeling like absolute shit, this scene unfolding before her eyes was almost too much. Hayley did her best not to laugh. Even cold, stone-faced Storm fell under Gambit's hypnotic spell. Her lips curved upwards and she nodded, bashfully. "Of course, Remy. Thank you for being honest with us."

"Y'all should get to sleep now. Don't want that beautiful face of yours to get wrinkles," Gambit said with a wink.

Storm was smiling from ear to ear and looked like the school's nerd being hit on by the school's jock. Hayley stared down at her feet, so afraid that she would laugh if she saw the interaction between the two. Once she heard Storm leave, she looked up at Gambit who seemed pleased with himself and Logan who looked suspicious and angry.

"Now," Logan said. "What really went on here?"

Gambit didn't say a word but merely whistled, backing away slowly. He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

Hayley scowled at him and sighed. "I was going to go find John."

"Kid-,"

"That's what everyone was meeting about this morning, right?" Hayley fired back. "How Warren saw John and you guys thought it'd be best if you didn't tell me?"

"Because you would pull off some stupid shit like running towards him," Logan said firmly.

"I'm not a kid anymore, Logan! I'm fucking 21 years old and I can go to him if I'd like!"

"You don't act like a 21 year old," he shot back. "You're acting like a stupid girl who thinks she's in love with some asshole." He pointed his finger at her. "We are doing this for your own good and if you don't like it, then you can get the fuck out of here."

Hayley's throat went dry at Logan's words. He had never been so harsh and blunt with her before.

When she didn't say anything, Logan turned around and glared at Gambit. "And you fucking owe me a new car," he growled before stalking away.

Gambit chuckled. "Well that was entertainin'."

"Fuck you," she spat.

He pushed off the wall with his leg and chuckled again. "C'mon, cherie. They seem to care about you a lot, specially Wolfy."

"Wolfy?" she repeated.

"Just my little nickname for him."

She had to chuckle as she wiped away her tears from her eyes.

"Hey hey." Gambit stepped closer to her and gently rubbed her arms. "A beautiful girl like you shouldn't be crying." He pushed her hand from her face and wiped the last tear away from her cheek. He smiled at her.

It wasn't his charm. His eyes weren't glowing at the moment. Hayley knew it was because she felt vulnerable. She knew it was because she missed John so much but right at that moment, all she wanted was to be held by Gambit. She wanted Gambit to wrap his muscular arms around her and just make her feel safe in the world.

But she knew she had to restrain herself.

"I should get to bed, I guess," she said softly.

Gambit nodded. "I'll walk you."

"You don't have to."

"Well, I want to, cherie."

Gambit had a way of making her feel terrible for treating him the way that she did earlier. She looked up at him apologetically and sighed. "I'm sorry about how I acted earlier. But you have to understand that John means a lot to me."

He smiled at her. "I know. I can see it in your eyes, beautiful." He nodded over to the door. "C'mon, Stormy might come back and I don't know if I actually want to continue flirting our way out of more trouble."

Hayley laughed. "Is Stormy not your type?"

"Nah."

"So what's your type?" she asked, wiping the remainder of her tears as they walked towards the elevator. She pressed the button for the third floor.

Gambit thought for a minute. "I don't know, cherie. It's different for every girl."

"So basically you like girls who'll spread their legs?" Hayley said, forcing herself to have a straight face.

He laughed. "Now you're being judgmental, joli." He smiled. "It's hard to say what my type is. Every girl is different."

The elevator doors opened and they walked out, careful to talk in whispers. They reached Hayley's door and she turned around to bid him goodnight.

His lips curved upwards. "You ain't gon invite me in?" he asked with a wink.

Hayley rolled her eyes, playfully shoving him. "Get out of here."

He chuckled softly. "Night, cherie." He grabbed her hand and gave her hand a kiss.

She was lucky that it was dark because her face had suddenly heated up. As soon as he walked away, Hayley ran into her room and locked the door. She went into her bathroom and looked in the mirror, terrified to see the red splotches on her cheeks. She turned on the water and splashed some on her face.

"Stop acting stupid," she told herself firmly.

Again, thank you very much for the reviews! I know I'm not a good writer but I'm glad you guys are digging the story. :)